Pilot episode of Almanac. J. D. Houston and Betty Ann Bowser host. First segment is 1988 year in review with Bowser and Houston. Second segment is a political panel discussing recent election of George H. Bush as President of the United States. Bowser and Houston interview Richard W. Murray, Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston, Nene Foxhall, columnist for the Houston Chronicle, and Kevin Southwick, a Libertarian Party official. Third segment addresses the problems facing the Houston Independent School District (HISD), and possible solutions for them. Houston interviews Kay Killough, District Deputy Superintendent of Instruction for HISD, and Basil Thomas, an HISD teacher and Vice President of the Houston Federation of Teachers. Fourth segment focuses on questionable practices in the War on Drugs in Houston and around the country. Bowser and Houston interview Helen Gros, President of the Houston ACLU, and Marion Hambrick, Chief Special Agent in Houston for the DEA. Fifth segment is interview with Graham Painter, HL&P Spokesperson, and City Councilmember, Jim Greenwood about controversy surrounding South Texas Nuclear Plan and rate hikes from Houston Lighting & Power. Sixth segment addresses immigration in Houston, and 1988 general amnesty program of the INS. Bowser and Houston interview Mariela Melero, INS Spokesperson, Nestor Rodriguez, Professor of Sociology at the University of Houston, and Ramon Cuevas, immigration attorney and radio host from KXYZ. Seventh segment focuses on NASA and the Discovery Space Shuttle, Bowser interviews author and NASA observer Alcestis Oberg. Episode opens with commentary from Kevin Dorsey.